Washington DC

Washington, D.C. is a federal district located in between Maryland and Virginia, and does not belong to any state. Moreover, it is not located in the District of Columbia. Rather, the capital of the USA is the District of Columbia. Before the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871, Washington was a city within the territory of Columbia, which is why the common name is now Washington, D.C. The official name, however, is simply "the District of Columbia".

It has no representation in the Senate and one non-voting at-large congressional delegate in the House of Representatives.

This may well be something that everyone except me knew already - blame my terrible geography - but since it surprised me I thought it might be worth posting!

We've got a similar situation in Australia, where our capital city was built in a legislated no-mans-land in the middle of nowhere because neither Sydney nor Melbourne would agree to let the other city become the country's capital.

Another related GI question could be "which city is the capital of New York State". The answer strangely is not New York city but a city called Albany that few have heard of outside the US.

I've just been reading about US Federal capitals. From 1774 to 1800, as the foundations of the nation were being laid, and mainly owing to the exigencies of war, Congress met in numerous capitals. Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, Lancaster PA, York PA, Princeton NJ, Trenton NJ and Annapolis MD all served, for various brief periods, as the US federal capital. Washington DC was only formally confirmed from 1819 onwards.